Kindness ramps up productivity
Better than incentives when done well
This week a study from Penn State University was released about Kindness and it’s relationship to worker productivity. During the study, candidates reported significantly higher levels of self-efficacy (related to confidence and belief) as well as having increased capability to solve their own problems through perseverance. There seemed to be a higher level of resilience and lowered levels of feelings associated with depression.
A friend living in Indonesia randomly sent me and my wife this card for no reason other than she was thinking of us. It made us feel 10 feet tall. It is sitting on my desk helping me feel inspired to work harder and be better.
Staff were happier and working harder! Work is carried out quicker, easier, and with less mistakes or need for support from superiors. I would classify this as a higher Return On Effort (ROE).
The problem with this is that kindness is often misinterpreted. It is often seen as giving something like a benefit or an incentive. To me, this is separate to kindness. If I were to give my employees a day off for hitting target this would be an exchange, even if it was generous.
The small acts of kindness requiring care and attention make the biggest difference. The little moments. The little gestures. That are done often. This is a key element to leading with humility (another concept that is regularly misunderstood, but that is another topic for another day).
This is effective as it feeds a sense of belonging and safety, in turn feeding our shared sense of purpose. All of this is chronicled over-and-again in Alex (Sandy) Pentland’s work performed over the course of decades at MIT Human Dynamics Labs.
Examples of kind acts Executives and Managers can take advantage of include…
Give Attention. Putting the phone down (preferable out of sight when staff are talking to you.
Give Equity. Referring to the team as ‘the team’, not ‘my team’ (you don’t own it).
Give Connection. Making eye contact and saying good morning to everyone rather than breezing past them.
Give Care. Saying “how are you? and actually listening to the answer”.
Give Curiosity. Asking lots of questions showing care for the person you are talking to.
Give Direct Feedback. Help people be better and reduce blind-spots.
Give Support. Doing a small task that will help the person carry out their ‘big rock’ jobs.
Give Space. Not making introverts talk about themselves in team meetings.
Give Experience. Foreseeing the challenges a team member will experience and talk through solutions with them before they need to struggle through it.
Give Comfort. Getting the coffees, drinks, or even pouring a glass of water in a meeting.
Give Development. Provide access to learning opportunities.
Give Experiences. Provide access to events.
And, for everyone reading this that is not a boss, you can do this for each other and your boss too – it is a two-way street. This list could be endless. There are 100’s of things we can all do every single day to provide higher levels of kindness. This is a cracking way to boost productivity for low-to-no-cost. It’s also a great way to be a better human.
Being kind is not about giving stuff, or incentives, or more benefits to our people. It is about providing practical signals to colleagues that they matter, that they are cared for, and that we are all in it together. As the old saying goes, “actions speak louder than words”.
P.S. One-offs won’t work. It’s like getting fit. Going to the gym once does nothing, but going 100 days out of 120 makes a big difference to the waistline.
